"Growing up in such high level of political violence, state oppression, and degradation had left its impact on me of course... from a very early age I became very rebellious against imposed norms and restrictions.”

The Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq

After the invasion in 2003, the situation of Iraqi women deteriorated and the rights and freedoms of women have been severely jeopardized.

Just the other week, on Sunday, December 2nd, a tenth grader from Mahmoud Raqi Girls High School in Kapisa Province of Afghanistan was shot seven times by a group of men while she was walking home from school.

Anisa was a volunteer for a polio vaccination campaign ran by the Ministry of Public Health. Anisa was killed for going to school. She was killed for vaccinating children. And she was killed for working outside her home.

One such incident is of a young 15-year-old girl, Aliya*. The eldest of seven children, her mother and father had their hands full with the younger children. Aliya was neglected emotionally, and in order to grasp the attention of her parents or to find someone to appreciate or love her she began to play truant.

There is no room for doubt that violence against women is a worldwide phenomenon that is not exclusive to any specific culture or race. The phenomenon merely manifests itself in varying shapes and degrees in different parts of the world and strikes different nerves in the respective societies. In Egypt, perhaps one of the most glaring indicators of the growth of this phenomenon is sexual violence and the politics of “shaming” Egyptian women.

In 2005, following the invasion of Iraq and ouster of Saddam Hussein, Iraq held its first democratic election. Voter turnout was at over sixty percent, despite attacks targeting voters. Newspapers and television channels were flooded with pictures of smiling Iraqi women holding up purple stained fingers. I myself witnessed voting stations in Dubai fill with equal numbers of men and women casting their ballots. However, the degree to which high female voter turnout has translated into changes in favor of gender justice is questionable.

GAMCOTRAP is a leading women’s rights organization based in Gambia. While promoting women’s human rights, it continuously engages communities and institutions to address gender-based violence. GAMCOTRAP is committed to the promotion and protection of women and girls’ political, social, sexual, and reproductive health, and educational rights.

We come from all around the globe. We emerge from different backgrounds. We speak different languages, and hold different nationalities. Yet, unfortunately, as women we suffer from the same inequalities and gender based-violence everywhere in the world.

In today’s narrative we salute the women who face the pain of gender-based violence with dignity and hope for the future. Here we take a look at the stories of women who may not be women’s rights activists in the traditional sense. Yet, in their own understated way, are they not survivors and fighters? We invite you to read about these resilient women and take a moment to think just how we should define activism against gender violence.

In the evening of June 2nd I found myself heading to Tahrir Square, in the heart of Cairo, with no interest in protesting. I really just wanted to check out the scene – by this point, I was frustrated by the fact that the Egyptian people were not united. Everyone seemed to be looking out for their own interests, rather than the interests of the country and its people.